Meemure, an idyllic tourist attraction:

Balancing: eco tourism and sustainability

By Gamini Warushamana

Tourism contributes to the economic development of the country with a steady growth in tourist arrivals.

According to official figures in the first two months of this year 288,453 tourists arrived recording a 28.5%, increase over the corresponding period in 2013. In addition with a wider middle class and changed lifestyles there is a huge flow of local tourists to the countryside and as a result many remote villages have become tourist attractions.

Meemure is one such village that has a relatively long history of attracting nature lovers and during the New Year vacation thousands of tourists visited Meemure.

With the vast influx of visitors and developing infrastructure new challenges emerge over the sustainability of nature tourism in Meemure.

Dry winds were blowing fast across the Hunnasgiriya pass. The lonely peak of Hunnasgiriya mountain remained green as usual resisting the prevailing drought that has dried most of the vegetation in the mountain range.

Hunnasgiriya is the main resting place of long distance travellers along the Kandy-Mahiyangana road via the famous 18-elbow bends. Restaurants and small tea kiosks, vegetable stalls, mobile sellers of food items are the main businesses in this small town that connects several small villages on the eastern slopes of the Knuckles mountain range and the Dumbara valley.

By 11 am we were in Hunnasgiriya on transit to our destination, Meemure, a famous attraction of nature lovers and adventure tourists.

We looked for public transport and got to know that the only van which runs once a day up and down will start its return journey at 2.30 pm. Without wasting three and a half hours, we hired a tuk-tuk to travel 34 kilometres along extremely difficult, hilly terrain. The road traversed through infertile tea plantations of Hare Park estate of the Estate Plantation Corporation and the Knuckles forest range.

The area is not new to high-end tourists and there are several expensive lodges and holiday resorts in the area for them. Some of them are within the protected area of the forest and are therefore, illegal.

The huge gates of these hotels in the thick jungle with 'No Entrance' boards seem mysterious and people in the area don't know what is happening inside or who occupies them. New hotels are emerging to cater to the increasing demand from local and foreign tourists.

The meditation centre of the Methsevena Foundation welcomes spiritual visitors for meditation in the calm and beautiful environment.

Today, there is a dormitory and its owner, Charles Thomas said that the 10 luxury rooms that are under construction will be allocated to visitors of all religious beliefs for spiritual purposes.

The rooms with large glass windows have been designed facing the East to view the picturesque scenery at dawn from bed. It has facilities for wheel-chaired elderly and sick people as well and Thomas said that this will be an ideal place for meditation and the project is not profit-oriented.

The government has given prominence to the tourism industry in economic development. However, if the industry is to achieve a positive impact on the economy, the benefits should accrue to the people.

The high-end tourists coming through tour operators, stay in five star hotels and travel by luxury buses owned by the same companies may earn a higher revenue but there is no trickle down of benefits to the people. This would lead to widening inequality in income distribution.

Tourism in Meemure is different in this sense and there are many villagers who depend on it. Senaka Rajapaksa, the tuk-tuk driver we hired is a classic example and he charged Rs. 3,000 for the trip to Meemure.

He also works as the caretaker of a lodge with two family suits in Kandegama, a village close to Hunnasgiriya and earns a monthly salary.

The lodge owner does the bookings and Rajapaksa looks after the management side - cooking and care-taking of the lodge and he said that with extra income from tips and hiring the tuk-tuk he earns a good income.

P.D. Navarathne, a resident of Meemure was the first person in the village to provide accommodation to tourists. Although there are not many facilities in his house, he has two rooms to hire out and his wife supplies the meals.

He too has visitors on most days and specially during week-ends and school vacations. Navarathna has expanded his business to new areas and he now has camp sites and camping facilities for tourists. Although there is no professionalism, he provides tourism experiences such as trekking, hiking and bird watching.

Climbing Lakegala, the symbol of Meemure, is an exciting experience. Mini world's end, trekking on a foot path along the Heen Ganga are other interesting experiences here. Not only residents of Meemure, people migrating from Colombo too have occupied land here and provide accommodation for tourists at camp sites.

People complain that outsiders and their agents in the village have already damaged the natural environment, the main tourist attraction.

The forest on the banks of the Heen Ganga, the main water stream in the village, has been cleared for camp sites. The location of the famous film Sooriya Arana too is a camp site today.

Villagers also complain about the irresponsible behaviour of visitors under the influence of liquor, dump garbage and break the peaceful existence of the peasants.

The main livelihood of the people in Meemure is agriculture and with tourist attractions they have new opportunities. Village youth earn an income as tourist guides.

Now they have a good market for Kithul products that they produce such as jaggery and treacle. The Grama Niladhari of Meemure, A. Kelum said that there are 115 households in the village and tourism has created some employment opportunities for people.

The Meemure village captured public attention as the teledrama location of Wanasarana. In 2002, the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the area and was surprised by the hardships faced by the people in this remote village. He pledged to develop infrastructure and uplift the living conditions of the people.

However, nothing happened and according to another placard placed in the middle of the village, construction work on the road was launched in 2006.

Although the road is still the same, the publicity given to these political events highlighted the picturesque village to nature lovers making Meemure a tourist attraction.

Road construction has now started from the Hunnasgiriya end and people said that when the road is completed it would totally change Meemure.

Some people have their reservations about how the road is being constructed and those engaged in tourism said that the road should be constructed without damaging the environment and are not happy with the proposed road plan.

Charles Thomas said that if nature tourism becomes the main economic activity, a different development model will have to be considered in infrastructure development.

The village already has a different infrastructure model in power generation. The village has its own mini hydro plant and dendro thermal power plant provided by UNIDO.

The village is self-sufficient in electricity and last year hydro power was available throughout the year. If hydro power is not sufficient in the dry season, the dendro thermal power plant provides electricity. It uses the fuel wood Gliricidia found abundantly in pepper gardens.

The Electricity Consumer Society manages the power plants and charges Rs. 250 monthly for electricity from each household. The natural environment and water are the main sources that attract tourists here. Most of the visitors enjoy the difficult journey which the villages hate and are eager to see an end to it. Transport difficulties have isolated the village from the rest of the world and deprived villagers from every aspect of development. Education is a classic example.

The Meemure primary school has 21 students and classes are conducted from Grades one to five but up to 2009 it had classes up to grade 9. But there are only three teachers in the school including the principal and if all three of them are present, at any given time, there are two classes without a teacher.

With leave taken by teachers for personal reasons, training and meetings of the principal at the regional education office in Kandy, the situation becomes worse and as a result the school cannot provide a proper education for students.

The same factors which attract visitors for pleasure have become a burden to teachers sent to this school and they get transfers as quickly as possible and leave the village.

The principal of the school, G. Jayarathne said that he needs at least five teachers to provide a proper education and retaining of teachers is extremely difficult and he cannot see a solution to it.